Sports

Alexei Ramirez's 2-run homer in 9th rallies White Sox past Indians

Ramirez hit a two-run homer on the first pitch he saw from John Axford in the ninth inning, rallying the Chicago White Sox over the Cleveland Indians 4-3 on a rainy Sunday.

"Everybody knows me as an aggressive hitter," Ramirez said through a translator. "I'm going to go looking for a good pitch to hit and when I get it, I'm going to swing at it. And that's what happened, I got a good pitch."

"(Axford is) definitely a really good pitcher and he just left me a pitch up there and I was able to put a good swing on it," he said.

Ramirez has a hit in all 13 games for the White Sox this season.

The Indians scored twice in the top of the ninth, getting the go-ahead run on a wild pitch by closer Matt Lindstrom.

Axford (0-1) came in seeking his fifth save in as many chances. He issued a leadoff walk to Jordan Danks, who stole second.

One out later, Ramirez homered over the left field fence.

The White Sox won a series against Cleveland for the first time since October 2012. Chicago took three of four in this set.

The game was delayed 1 hour, 15 minutes at the start by the threat of rain. There was another 45-minute delay in the fourth.

Cleveland trailed 2-1 going into the ninth. Michael Brantley reached on first base Jose Abreu's error, and singles by Yan Gomes and David Murphy tied it.

"Try to have a solid at-bat. There's a lot of things you can do to be productive right there, at least get that runner at second to third," Murphy said.

With two outs, Lindstrom (1-1) threw a wild pitch that put the Indians ahead.

Marcus Semien hit a solo home run in the eighth to give Chicago a 2-1 lead. He sent a full-count pitch from Indians starter Corey Kluber into the seats in right field.

Brantley gave Cleveland a 1-0 lead with two outs in the fourth when he homered off Jose Quintana.

The White Sox tied the game in the bottom half after the rain delay. With runners on second and third, Dayan Viciedo drove in a run with an infield single.

Quintana gave up one run and five hits over six innings. He struck out six and walked two while throwing a career-high 121 pitches.

"When he goes out there he always gives us a chance to win," manager Robin Ventura said. "That's the one thing about Q, very rarely is he out there in his game and he doesn't give you a chance to win."\